Robert De Niro called former President Donald Trump “evil” in a speech delivered at The New Republic‘s Stop Trump Summit in New York City.
De Niro was scheduled to deliver the speech in person, but after testing positive for Covid-19, sent his statement to be read aloud by former Trump administration official Miles Taylor.
“I’ve spent a lot of time studying bad men. I’ve examined their characteristics, their mannerisms, the utter banality of their cruelty. Yet there’s something different about Donald Trump. When I look at him, I don’t see a bad man. Truly.”
“I see an evil one,” the statement read.
De Niro went on to say that Trump is “a wannabe tough guy with no morals or ethics. No sense of right or wrong. No regard for anyone but himself — not the people he was supposed to lead and protect, not the people he does business with, not the people who follow him blindly and loyally, not even the people who consider themselves his ‘friends.’ He has contempt for all of them.”
The actor’s remarks sparked a conversation on social media. Many praised De Niro for his denunciation.
“De Niro’s words are more statesmanlike than any utterance of Trump (or, for that matter [former British Prime Minister Boris] Johnson or any of the other lying, crooked, narcissistic demagogues in modern politics) ever made,” one user wrote.
“Everything De Niro said about Trump applies equally to the @GOP in general,” another said. “‘No morals or ethics’ and ‘no sense of right or wrong’ and ‘no regard for anyone.'”
Others condemned De Niro for his attack on the former president.
“Go away De Niro, not everyone cares what you think of another person,” said one user. “We care about our country and Trump’s policy. I didn’t always like my [boss’s] personality, but I liked what he did for the company that kept our jobs to live our lives.”
Another stated that Trump “is the only candidate that can and will unite America. De Niro wants Hollywood and Washington connected at the hip so that each location can dictate to Americans how to live their lives under the political boot of propaganda. The left is scared that he will expose them too!”
